Exam 16: Managing Groups and Teams

For permanent work groups,________ is the last stage in their development.

Which of the following formal groups are essentially independent groups,which,in addition to their regular duties,take on tasks such as hiring,planning,scheduling,and performance evaluations?

Groupthink occurs only when group members have a negative image of the group or the leader.

Large groups consistently get better results than smaller ones,when the group is involved in ________.

In the ________ stage,high levels of task performance are no longer the group's top priority.

Work teams interact primarily to share information and to make decisions to help each member do his or her job more efficiently and effectively.

Which conflict-resolution technique is best used when the issues are more important to others than they are to yourself?

Which of the following requires the least interdependence between its members?

In a short essay,describe the issues involved in managing global teams giving examples of any cultural influences on effective global team building and performance.

Group Development at MagPie Inc. (Scenario) As a consultant who specializes in group dynamics, you are observing MagPie Inc.'s self-managing teams and work groups which are in different stages of development. MagPie is a medium-sized manufacturing business and has recently started using teams in all of their operations. Team training is lacking and you have been asked to evaluate the teams and suggest actions for better cohesiveness among the team members. You have labelled the teams A, B, C, D and E, in order to conceal their names. Group D has resolved its issues of leadership and is devoting all of its energy to getting the job done. Team C, on the other hand, shows significant resistance to its appointed leader's guidance and there is a lot of argument over roles within the group. The members of Group A are getting acquainted in their meeting. The team is made up of employees from different divisions and departments and they are still getting to know each other. Team E is in the process of setting their formal rules, roles, and clarifying expectations. Everyone seems to be in agreement as to how these are done. Team B is full of hostility. At least one group member has withdrawn by sitting quietly away from the others, and is no longer participating in the discussions. -Group C seems to be at which stage?

What is the reason that a low-to-moderate level of task conflict consistently has a positive effect on group performance?

If group cohesiveness is ________ and goals are ________,productivity decreases.

Formal groups occur naturally in the workplace in response to the need for social contact.

Conflicting Opinions (Scenario) The two vice-presidents were in a heated debate. Celine believed that the company's traditional marketing strategy was no longer effective at attracting new customers, but that loyal customers would stay regardless. So, she proposed an aggressive new marketing promotion to "spice things up a bit" and target new customers. Merle strongly disagreed. He felt the company was doing fine and was concerned that an aggressive new approach might scare away loyal customers without any guarantee of gaining new customers. Regardless of who was right, their battle was causing a stir in the organization. Some felt that a conflict such as this hurt the company and made it appear weak to employees and shareholders. Others felt that a conflict over marketing strategies was bound to occur eventually, and that it may even help the company. Still others even encouraged such conflict and felt it was absolutely necessary in order to achieve the best outcome. -Conflict that supports the organization's goals is considered ________ conflict.

The intent of many team-building exercises is to ________.

Social loafing is a greater problem in collectivist societies.

In the group development process,the forming stage is complete when members begin to think of themselves as part of a group.

Studies demonstrate that ________ conflicts are almost always dysfunctional.

Alejandra's work team does its own hiring and scheduling and is even responsible for evaluating each other's performance.Alejandra is part of a ________ team.

Manny's Many Conflicts (Scenario) Manny Gill is reflecting on several recent conflicts at work and how they were resolved. He has spent weeks of careful negotiations with the labour union representing most of his workers. The previous round of negotiations had not gone well, and Manny saw an opportunity to try to mend the relationship between labour and management. In the end, both sides had to give up some of their demands in order to achieve a settlement before the current agreement expired. However, Manny was not about to give up any ground on his dispute with the production manager over the latest budget allocation. His position may not be popular, but Manny knew he was right! Then there was his brief encounter with Jeff, who complained that Sherry kept leaving the photocopier tray empty. Manny did not have time to deal with such squabbles, so he told Jeff to sort it out with Sherry directly. At home, he was hoping to catch the game on TV last night, but his wife wanted to watch a light romantic comedy instead. Manny agreed to watch the movie with her since it really seemed to be important to her. Besides, he could always catch the game highlights on the news at eleven! -Which conflict-resolution technique did Manny use with his wife?